Australia’s first ever exhibition of works by French artist Edgar Degas (1834–1917) is now showing at the National Gallery of Australia, and is exclusive to Canberra.

The exhibition includes more than 120 paintings, drawings, sculptures, monotypes, prints, and photographs drawn from 45 collections from all over the world. Works are drawn from prestigious galleries such as the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

Degas was an innovator in depicting images of everyday life in Paris. Many of the works exhibited focus on Degas’ favourite subject matter—the ballet, behind-the-scenes views at the opera, the racetrack, café-concerts, laundresses and women bathing.

Degas and photographyThursday 19 March 12.45 pm
Robert Deane, Senior Researcher, examines Eadweard
Muybridge’s 19th-century photographic studies of human and
animal locomotion and discusses how it informed the style of
contemporary painters especially that of Edgar Degas.
Free |
Small Theatre

Curator's perspective Thursday 19 March 5.00 pmMEMBERS
Jane Kinsman, Senior Curator, International Art, and curator of Degas: master of French art, gives a special tour for members. Followed by light refreshments in the Members Lounge.
$50 members and their guests | book now
Exhibition Galleries and Members Lounge

The world of work: capturing the spontaneous and the unselfconsciousSaturday 21 March 2.00 pmVictoria Clutterbuck, Paul Cliff, Paul Hetherington, Charlotte Clutterbuck and Susan Hampton read a selection of poetry and prose from Guillaume Apollinaire, Elizabeth Gaskell, Emile Zola and others, including one of Degas’ own sonnets about ballet dancers.
Free | Small Theatre

Life drawing and etchingSunday 22 March 10.00 am – 4.00 pmJoin John Pratt, ANU Printmedia lecturer and master printer, and develop monoprints and drypoints from a life model in a manner similar to Degas.
$120; $110 members (includes materials) | book now
Megalo Print Studio + Gallery

21 March – 8 June | Childrens GalleryWhat stirs in the silence of the National Gallery of Australia's collection storage?

Animals and beings (real and mystical) are not just depicted by artists for their beauty, but also because they are great symbols and vehicles for transformation. Many artists are attracted to ideas of movement, change and transformation, and animals and beings are favourite subjects when depicting these ideas in works of art. Silently stirring explores these themes through prints, drawings, photography and sculpture from the national art collection, which includes many marvellous creatures that are silently stirring in the shadows.

Mochizuki Gyokusen Wagtails by a rocky torrent Meiji period 1868-1912 (detail) National Gallery of Australia, Canberra Purchased 2004 more information

A little look at artWednesday 18 March 10.00–11.00 am
Parents/carers with their babies and toddlers are invited to join a voluntary guide for a relaxed tour of the collection, followed by a morning tea with coffee and cake.
$12, $10 members/concession | book now
meet in Gallery foyer

Wagtails by a rocky torrent, a pair of sixfold screensTuesday 24 March 12.45 pm
Haruki Yoshida, researcher in Chinese and Japanese painting, discusses the Meiji-period pair of screens Wagtails by a rocky torrent by Mochizuki Gyokusen.
Free |
East Asian gallery

Autumn art club ISunday 29 March 3.00 pm
Miriam Kelly, Associate Curator, Australian Painting and Sculpture, gives a focus talk on the work of Clarice Beckett, followed by a glass of sparkling wine.
$10; free for members | book now
| Project Gallery and Members Lounge